Service is horrible. Â Waiters have attitude, whether there are 100 people or 1, they are super slow, never get your order right and just plain don't care!
They have wire hooks on the side of the tables for the hookahs, not only did I slice my jeans on them, I also sliced my leg and no one cared!! Safety hazard much??
Prices are expensive unless its ladies night, the patio area is tiny for hookah and seating is not comfortable.
The only reason they got two stars is the actual hookah is pretty good.
BEST hookah ever! That's coming from someone who's hookah-ed from the ancient city of Petra to the river Jordan! I've never had a place so ON replacing coals- and Hookah lasted hours! Not to mention probably the best hummus I've ever had. The only thing that was just average was the beauty of the belly dancer and the baklava.
Review Source:Yes you have to wait to get in, but this is always the case with good places. Hookah we got was really god, and had the appropriate size. They also kept bringing new coal even though we were done with it. I also tried the tea they had it was really good. My friend tired the lemon martini and she liked it very much. A true Middle East experience (not the martini obviously :)) and I'm definitely coming back!
Review Source:Caspian Hookah Lounge is part of the Caspian restaurant, but more like a patio out in the front of the restaurant. Â
This is a perfect place to hang out to smoke, enjoy their music, drink their tea, have some appetizers, and watch one of the best belly dancers! Â Btw, the belly dancers are HOT! So, bring cash to tip, too!
If you plan to smoke, try their mixed flavors! And if you plan on drinking tea, try their African tea: <a href="http://www.yelp.com/biz_photos/caspian-hookah-lounge-irvine?userid=N4K69ZdyU-B8NzVYxwjK0A#a1QJuDZDoWsHD9iAYKnxjg">http://www.yelp.com/biz_…</a>
Our two hookahs: <a href="http://www.yelp.com/biz_photos/caspian-hookah-lounge-irvine?userid=N4K69ZdyU-B8NzVYxwjK0A#RnkQReEcuxfNQsFvX1LpYQ">http://www.yelp.com/biz_…</a>
We had an awesome experience here and quickly made new friends who helped us with restaurant recommendations. The staff are awesome and quality of their tea and food is high. Â This place is highly recommended!
Just a note: This place is perfect for a party of 2 or 4. Â Anything beyond is probably going to be tough since the place isn't that huge. Â If you go on a busy night, expect a wait.
I used to frequent the Caspian pretty consistently, but it has changed a lot in the last couple years.  The prices have sky rocketed and there are just not enough servers to accommodate the number of patrons they will get on a busy night.  They also have a limit to the number of people per hookah, so make sure to bring an even number of people if you want to pay the least amount possible.  The only reason I gave them three stars is that I do in fact enjoy the food here, but if you plan on just smoking hookah, I would  suggest coming right when they open because at least then you get some one-on-one service.
Review Source:This place is chill ! Went here on Thursday night 1/17/13 and it was pretty busy. My friends and I sat ourselves down and waited to be greeted by the servers. Took them about 15 minutes to come over with the menus, it was understandable since it was busy and our server seemed like he was alone doing all the work lol. Most of the exotic flavors are $20 for a regular hookah head. Apple or pineapple heads cost extra, not sure if they have a ice hose though.. probably ask for that next time ! Our hookah flavor was X on the beach, and it was good ! The flavor was really strong compared to other hookah places Ive been to. The server came once in a while to check up on the coals and stuff. The hookah area is however kinda small, they just have tables with booth seating's against the wall. They also have some TV's & heaters above some tables. There was  Persian music playing throughout the whole night, with belly dancers too ! My guy friends enjoyed that for sure haha. Overall this hookah lounge is good, but not sure if its suitable for large groups though.
Review Source:Where do I start?? First off... They make you wait forever .. They make up a random time and tell u that .. God knows if its true... Â The girl upfront has her friend on a busy Friday night occupying a 4 person table .. As she draws, the lady in charge comes in and out smoking hookah.. Talking to her friend and dancing... Not bring very professional.. And loosing money... Â The seats are soooo uncomfortable!!!! The guy brings is a hookah... With no coal ... 10 min later we tell them we need coal... They bring food that's not even cooked!!!! The decor is HORRIBLE!!!!!! Laser lights?? Tv ads?? Â CNN!?? A Hawaiian themed door!? Candles on tables not even on!!! Â The bread was dry as hell... Of course they forgot about our tadig and we had to ask about that as well...
Never again
Manager was awesome - very accommodating & blended a nice tobacco bowl for us girls. However the rest of the waitstaff is very, very slow. Kept having to wait a long time for drinks & reminding them on several occasions. The appetizer platter we ordered was excellent and included  eggplant dip, yogurt, hummus, falafel, pickles and bread.  Decent happy hour that is served all night on Thursday. Good mix of ethnicity's too. Can't wait to come back and try more of the food. It's a little expensive with $20 for the hookah and the same for the appetizer platter, but a fun thing to do with a group. Go early to get a table, the hookah room is small.
Review Source:Best hookah I've ever had in the OC (been to around 4-5 OC lounges) but service is so bad that I don't  come here nearly as much as I would if service was up to par. Service is so bad that you often don't get served until 20 mins after you're seated and expect even longer to get your food/hookah/drinks and trying to get more coal is touch and go to say the least....staff aren't unpleasant just insanely slow. Not just me, every time I've been here I've seen many disgruntled customers. Hookah is great though, the atmosphere is very authentic, bellydancers are excellent, food isn't great but apart from that and the poor service it can be a good time. Go if you're looking for high quality hookah but don't mind painfully slow service.
Review Source:I quite like their food menu. We ordered some starters which I can't remember the name at all. But basically the dry rice with special sauce on top. That was really tasty.
They also have quite a few options on the flavor of the sheesha. I love the fact they use good quality coal.
I am not sure if I'd go back, since it is all the way in OC/Irvine. But I would defn recommend others to check out this place.
A hookah lounge in Irvine?! And it's open till 2am on friday and saturday?! I didn't think it could get any better, but it did. They have a good happy hour, that features deals on food, drinks(full bar), and hookah! The only bad thing I have to say about Caspian is during the summer that lounge can get real hot! They really need more fans in there. I was sweating while just sitting and smoking.
Review Source:A more authentic Middle Eastern hookah experience with inspired decor and less than inspired service. Â I'm not a hookah master, but I do know my hookah basics and the smoke speaks for itself. Â They use an authentic Khalil Mamoon metal hookah used in the middle east and if you pay extra, nicely carved fruit bowls made of orange or small melons to hold the shisha that gives it a nice additional flavor boost. Â The shisha is starbuzz and popular common flavors are available for about 2 dollars more than the average OC hookah lounge. Â The clouds can be large with starbuzz and a well setup hookah, but I found only medium sized ones here. Â This is a service not many other commercialized and more "Californiaized" hookah lounges offer. Â Personally, I enjoy the fact that there is a decent amount of classy hot Persian girls that frequent at this lounge. Â While there's always groups of Persians hanging out here every time, it's a good indicator that the place is authentic and legitimate. Â I like to enjoy some Arabic tea with sugar cubes with my smoke. Â The tea here is very well made and quite delicious. Â I suggest sharing a pot with your friends during a hookah session and enjoyable conversation.
There are a few things that bring down the potential of the lounge:  The place is small with only 7-9 hookah stations with a narrow corridor.  This fact causes the wait to be atrocious which in other hookah places, you are seated almost immediately.  The seats are made of POS plywood covered in cheapo Persian rug-ish material that is worn out and dirty (you can't see if well in the dark with disco lights flashing).  The service is almost borderline rude, but it seems if you speak Persian the magic royal carpet it rolled out for you, but if you're not, some of the "managers" seem to put  you on the back burner (no pun intended).  I also feel that I had to request coals abnormally often which either means: they are shitty coals or they just take forever to replace your current ones, or both.  It's not hard to send down the dude with the coals every 5 mins since the place is so narrow.  My final gripe is that the music they place is like Middle Eastern Remix 2010, like remixes in another language from 2 years ago on repeat.  Seriously on repeat every 15 mins.  How do I know?  The ipod was plugged in next to my hookah (first table when you walk in) and I could see they downloaded a mix off piratesbay for free and it would end every 15 mins and the guy would come over and press play again.  I asked him the 3rd time, why don't you just create a playlist or something so we aren't listening to the same 6-7 songs in a row constantly.  He replied, "Because people really like this music."  I said, "Yea, but not that much to listen to it 4 times in an hour man."  He shrugged his shoulders and walked away. Â
My suggestion: Bring in belly dancers to hang out at the hookah lounge after they shake their thangs in the dining room, just be careful of knocking over the hookahs...
I love, love, love, LOVE this place! It's the coziest, more relaxing hookah lounge in Southern California. I'm so bummed I live all the way down in San Diego so I can't take advantage of this place more often! The service is phenomenal, the hookahs are off the hook, the music is great, the belly dancers are super good, and the place is just so, so cute! It is very small but I guess I kinda like that. If you go early enough you can find a place. But I can see how going later might prove to be unsuccessful as far as finding a seat. We go every chance we get when we're in Irvine! The gentleman that replace the coal are super attentive and I'm always so impressed by their attention that I can't help but leave a big tip and every cent is well deserved!
What put the cherry on the cake for me is that they were playing the Olympics on the big screen so it made for a perrrrrrrrfect Saturday afternoon!
This lounge is crazy chill!! I don't smoke hookah but have friends that do so after an early night out, we stumbled upon this place and boy am I glad we did. Â The smell in the air is not strong at all so non-smokers like myself can still go and hang with chimney friends. Â The atmosphere is laid back and everyone in the room (at least the night we went) was friendly and it was like a kickback with a bunch of randoms hahaha this is a must go after a long day or a long week
Review Source:Man, the hookah here is absolutely outstanding. Â To be honest, it really depends what kind of vibe you're looking for. Â If you're looking for trashy bro-town USA hookah joints with the unce-unce-unce music and Tap Out shirts, there are plenty of places to suit your needs in Costa Mesa or Huntington Beach.
However, if you dig a place that's traditional and laid-back, Caspian's will be a delight. Â By traditional, I mean, it's traditional in the way you really get a taste of Persian culture. Â I really like it. Â And the beautiful belly-dancers are always a plus.
The food here is good but expensive. I had the Shish Kebab. The meat was juicy and tender. It comes with onions, green peppers, a whole tomato and rice. It's actually a lot of food so you can actually share with someone. For me, it was just enough. Loved it though. They have a large selection of alcohol and wine as well.
The ambiance is nice here. Although it's a bit small but it's very intimate. It's hard to get out of your seat if it's crowded. They also have a few tvs in here so you can watch a game or whatever they have on.
The waiter was nice but it seems they need more waiters here because he was the only one working all the tables.
I didn't have any of the hookah so I can't comment on it but my friends seemed to really enjoy it and it lasts quite a while.
Note: The belly dancers come and dance for a while.
Best hookah joint, period. I've been to ones all over LA and Orange County and let me tell you, Orange County ones are garbage! BUT... this is awesome. I usually always go to The Spot in Encino, but I'm sick of the lame fashion shows and ego-maniacal Middle Eastern girls there staring you down from head-to-toe trying to calculate your worth by what you're wearing. It's not a freakin' club! Anyways, I should probably save that rant for my The Spot review, hahaha. This place is chill, intimate setting, has a full bar, great top notch hookah with an apple head, great service (especially for charcoal) and it's just a fun place to hang out and have a good time. It's a really small place though, but they serve a full menu and it's happy hour from when it opens until it closes.
I love the corner seating because I feel like there's more room and you get to see the whole lounge. There's a bellydancer there, too. It's more of a mature crowd, so like college students and older. I love that 'cause I can't stand loud annoying teenagers when I'm trying to relax.
To get an idea of the pricing, one of the last times I was here we ordered two hookahs, 6 Heinekens, 3 mojitos, 1 blind melon, two falafel plates and one hummus and it came up around $140 including tax and tip.
I liked this place. I loved the employees and the service they provided. The atmosphere was very laid back. It seemed to attract more of the older adults here and it wasn't crowded at all which helped the employees be even more attentive. The hookah wasn't the best I've ever had, however, but the price was very fair.
Review Source:5 stars for the 2 times I've been there because all the other times.. there was no seat. Super small patio area. it's basically the front patio area of Caspian. I love their teas!!!!! The hookah fixed on an apple and worth every penny.
I also enjoy the patrons their because it's older, mature, not rowdy, and classier than most places.
They also serve alcohol being that it is attached to Caspian...
Its tough to write this. I love the scene. HATE the guys that work here.
There are always open spots, and yet make us wait anywhere from 40 minutes to over an hour.
One star for serving alcohol, and the other star for being able to order persian food and listen to arabic/persian music.
I would suggest going to The Village Hookah for a tastier hookah and ridiculously better service.
Love the atmosphere here!
Instead of the typical high school kiddie crowd in most hookah lounges, Caspian has an older crowd and the ambience is much more calm and relaxing. The best part is how you can order from a full menu of drinks, entres and desserts! I am in love with their in-house tirimisu... DROOL! Also, they have apple bowls that last quite a while. Although pricey, the quality of hookah and atmosphere definitely makes up for it!
The best hookah lounge in Orange county!  I've been coming here for the past 6 months and I have come to the conclusion that this is indeed the best hookah lounge! I've been all over orange county to so many different shisha lounges, you name it and this right here is the definitive place to go for hookah and a great experience where one can sit back, smoke, drink and relax into serenity! What sets this hookah lounge apart from many others is that it has a full bar,a full menu,professional, and attentive staff and you actually receive much greater value as oppose to many other Hookah bars/Lounges that wanna charge you for water and like $4.00 for a cup of tea for each round and what not. Here at Caspian Hookah Lounge, the water is free, the Tea is unlimited, soft drinks are unlimited, there's no hourly limit, they don't force you to buy refills, No service charges,they don't put restrictions on you and your party like one hookahs per two people, none of that frustrating stuff! Here you can actually chill and enjoy yourself like a human being instead of having to worry about all these restrictions and forking over all your money for such little necessities. Another thing that's great about this place is the ambiance! It's completely spotless, it's a very classy, and  very cozy!  It's apparently inspired by Persian tea houses in Iran, and you can tell by the Persian carpet decor on the seating. In Iran they love sitting on carpets for social gatherings and it appears they're sporting the essence of that here! Apart from the Cozy Persian tea house theme, it like many other hookah lounges has it's nightlife appeal; It's dim, crowded, there's club lights flashing all over the place, they play a lot of  Persian pop/Trance and US Top 40 tracks. It all really gives you a great atmosphere!Even better,on Thursdays and weekends nights  be sure to catch the belly dancers around 10:30 to 11:00 they totally know how to put on a great show! Might I add, they are very seductive  and certainly like to tease!  It just doesn't get any better anywhere else, here you got great food,a full bar, hookah, fast and professional service, a great ambiance,  and live entertainment, what more can you ask for?!  The Hookah here is so worth it,  they use starbuzz tabacoo, they use freshly cut apple heads instead of the metal bowls for the shisha. As you're smoking the waterpipe you definitely taste the aroma of the apple infused with your chosen flavor(s).   What's also great is that they fill the apple head so much that it can literally last you up to 8  hours, no joke! If you're hardcore and Starbuzz ain't your thing, they have much stronger and harsher tobacco that may suit you. Ask my buddy Paimon, he'll hook you up! One Hookah is only 18.99$ and for the quality you get, it's totally worth every penny! The Coals or should I of said wood chunks they have here are so much better than at your typical hookah lounge. These wood chunks can last you a good 20 minutes or more, so in the mean time you don't have to worry about flagging someone down after your coals have burned out within a 5 to 10 mintue period like at usual places.  This hookah lounge closes at midnight on weekdays and 2 am on weekends. If you're wanting to save money, Sunday through Thursday is happy hour from open, til close and  all Hookah is 15% off! There really is no better place to end your night than coming to Caspian hookah lounge where you have the best of everything all in one place! As I said, this is the definitive place to for Hookah and a great experience. I come here every week and always tend to have a wonderful time! I sincerely recommend this place from the bottom of my heart. If you haven't been here, you don't know what you're missing! I give this place more than 5 stars!!
Review Source:We made a last minute decision for a hookah spot and decided on this one. It was my first time here since they remodeled the Caspian patio and turned it into a hookah lounge.
It was fantastic! You get to sit outside but with an indoor feel. You're not chocking on smoke like other hookah places where it's almost like they're attempting to hot box the entire place. There's plenty of ventilation, yet very warm and cozy. Only thing would be better is if they had some more comfortable seats.
The hookah was amazing! We got the house special! Ask the Ron Jeremy looking waiter to make it for you! He seriously made it AMAZING!!! It was so good, we just had to double tip him!!!
The crowd was a total mix! Older people. Younger kids. Mid aged kids. I would say the age range was from 18 to about 60. But everyone seemed to be having a good time.
Overall, I would say this is the best Hookah lounge in the southern OC area. Expect a long wait, because it does get very crowded!
A great Hookah experience that incorporates a classy setting with a smooth touch of attentive service and relaxation. I've visited Caspian's Hookah Lounge on several occassions and Amir and his staff are attentive, and make sure your experience whether with a small or large group is enjoyable. The hookahs are clean, and food and drinks can also be ordered in the lounge as well. Overall, a great way to end any evening while meeting/talking with old and new friends alike. I look forward to my next visit.
Review Source:Glad to know there is a place in Irvine to smoke hookah.. BUT, this hookah "lounge" closes earlier than the ones in Anaheim and the hookah is not very strong. Though, this place is chill, the crowd consists of mostly older people. Hookah is $18.99, and there is a decent variety of flavors. The service is great and attentive. However, I probably won't be back again unless I don't feel like going all the way to Anaheim.
Review Source:This is basically the patio of Caspian restaurant, but it definitely deserves a separate review from the restaurant.
This is not your typical hookah lounge; full of untidy and ruffled kiddos speaking slangs. There, you will see families, as well as youngsters and couples having a good time and enjoying the music. If you are planning to have dinner at Caspian, its a great idea to stop by here after dinner.
For someone who doesn't smoke anything, I really enjoy this place. This is by far the most elegant yet cozy Hookah Lounge I've been to. The most appealing thing to many visitors is the relaxing and charming atmosphere and also how entertaining and friendly the staff are.
If you are looking for a place to hang out while smoking your favorite hookah flavor, or just rolling by for a great drink, a light delicious Persian food, or a Persian tea and sweets, this is a great place to go. Â Yeah, they have full bar, so no excuse for not paying them a visit ;-) If you like ice cream, ask for this heavenly delicious Persian Saffron ice cream and faloodeh mix and top it with either cherry or lemon juice. mouth watering!
This is one of the rare hang out places in Irvine--or even the entire OC, that is open after 9pm everyday. They are open 7pm to midnight. On Friday, Sat, and Sun nights, they are open until about 2am. Yeeessss!